The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-04-30

tion, "From what is the sinner saved
by Christ ?' Just this He is saved
from his sins, not from threatened
punishment in another world for being
a sinner in this world.
Men are saved through Christ from
their sinful condition; for sinful con
dition is what is termed in Scripture
lost condition; an abnormal state OF
the soul; just as disease is an abnormal
state of the body state in which the
end of the SOULS being is not realized
and the life is subject to moral dark
ness and pain.
But how are men brought out Of this
lost condition through Christ ? How is
the Christ instrumental in saving them
from the lost condition in which they
are ? He saves them by his teaching;
for this enlightens their minds, and
awakens the Christ spirit in their hearts.
This spirit when aroused puts away
their sin, and leads them to honor the
example of life in God which they see
in the teacher. The after-death ap-
pearance also of the Master to his
friends, gives men an assurance of i'm
mortality that comforts their hearts in
sorrow and raises their being heaven
ward, as they look for the fulflment
of their spirits longings in the life to
come.
But is the mission of the Christ a
success? Is the Christ spirit going to
triumph in it's Office Of salvation ? Is
the moral creation universally going to
attain to the Christ life-to life at one
with God? We have the prophecy of
this spirit, speaking through the high
inspiration of Jesus, declaring that
success is certain; that there can be no
failure, for all men are to be drawn to
this plane-this plane of Christ life
and in our own divinest moods the
prophecy is confirmed by the same
spirit in us; assuring our hearts that
there can be no failure, that the divine
spirit must conquer, and that all souls
as the children of God must become
finally united in thought and affec-
tion to the parent soul-to their Father
in heaven. This is the plane of life
to which the being of Jesus was ex-
alted, and this is the plane to which
he declared that all men should be
drawn, just as certainly as that he was
thus exalted above the earthly plane.
We, see, then that the mission and
Office of Christ, in order to be a success,
must result in the raising of all men, as
Gods children, to life in union with
their heavenly Father. The final sal
vation of onfy-a part OF 1nanKfnf-
not fulfill the terms; will not consti-
tute perfect success. The mission OF
Christ is to save all, agreeably to the
Scripture, that "the Father sent the
Son to be the Saviour of the world"
The intent of the Christ mission
then, clearly is this that the whole
world shall become reconciled to God
that all men shall come to knowledge
of the truth and be saved. Paul as.
sures us that he himself, chief of sin.
ners, and, therefore, one of the most diff.
ficult to save, had been brought to sal.
vation; and that he could, therefore,
claim to be one of the firstfruits of the
divine mission, while at the same time
he was full of faith in the power OF
Christ to complete the mission and to
fulfill the end for which the mission
was ordained, so that no failure, even
in single case, should occur.
OF this mind in Paul, we are assured
by his declaration, that just so surely
as that all men die in the Adamic, OF
earthly nature, even thus surely shall
all men become alive in the Christ, OF
heavenly nature.
With these points clearly before us
with these points clearly revealed in
Scriptures, as well as indicated by the
spirit of Christ within US, how can we
doubt the final salvation of all men, and
still claim to be thoroughly Christian in
doctrine